Ed Driscoll (L) Andrew Klavan (R), during the November 2011 NR Cruise.
Novelist, screenwriter, GBTV.com and PJTV contributor and PJ Media columnist Andrew Klavan and I spoke on Sunday for a 22-minute long podcast interview, in which we discussed:
- The shock news last week of Andrew Breitbart’s passing away.
- The tone of the left when the news broke.
- A follow-up on Drew’s PJM post back in November, in which he asked, “Why don’t we make more attempts to seize the mainstream back from the dishonest left?”
- How the conservative novelist can construct a moral universe.
- Shows about nothing, and Hollywood’s love of the nihilistic universe.
- “The Ten Hardest Movies To Turn Off Once You Start Watching Them,” and what they say about the future of the movie industry.
I’ve admired Andrew’s work ever since seeing True Crime with Clint Eastwood in a San Jose theater back in 1999, and have featured his PJTV material numerous times on PJM’s Sirius-XM show during its run. But I had never spoken with Andrew before the National Review Cruise this past November. So it was great to ask him some thoughts on new media, Hollywood, conservatism, and the future of the movie industry.
Click below to listen to our interview:
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Good grief! This is one of the VERY BEST things I’ve listened to OR READ recently anywhere. Andrew’s remarks on movies and TV and Macbeth and relativism were GREAT! Very interesting AND thought-provoking.
Slightly related, and perhaps Andrew knows this: Macbeth was Abraham Lincoln’s favorite play.
The only equal is Lionel’s and Roger’s talks, but they’re shorter and more general. Maybe Andrew and Lionel could do a PJ video discussion.
I do have to disagree about the Simpsons, though. I’ve watched a very few episodes and found them way too shallow. Yes, they do mention interesting ideas. But the ideas are just plonked into the episodes. There’s no style, no true subtlety.
On The Simpsons, I think it depends on which seasons you are talking about. The 1st 2-3 years were very interesting and creative. I have noticed lately though, the writing is not quite as good, with mainly constant shows about Homer doing something stupid.
Thanks for the kind words — Drew was a great interview.
Further to your discussion of ‘hollywood’s failure’… I must refer you to a series of essays on the “Twilight” phenomenon by Erika Christakis: What Do Women Want: The Cinematic Wasteland of Female Fantasy (Part One) .. at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erika-christakis/what-do-women-want-part-o_b_1285416.html
Yes, the Huffington Post! Several commentators note that they rarely go to that site because it is a lfty site, but… the essay is totally magnificent.
And Christakis makes the excellent point that… (ta da!) women are different from men! Breaking Dawn has a birth scene which is to many people, horrifying… but actually, is quite tame compared to the real deal.
I tried reading the linked HuffPo essay. I got as far as this:
“Yet the industry tends to the wildest reaches of men’s inner lives. Men get to see their fantasies sprawled across the movie screen, virtually unquestioned. Exploding cars, bloody battles, dismembered limbs, grandiose super-heroes, psychopathic murderers, naked girls on their knees? It’s all there.
Men get a bye when it comes to their fantasy life – no matter how disturbing or buffoonish – but women are expected to be the grown-ups, even though it’s not much fun being the designated driver.”
So women go to see grown up people in grown up situations like Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, but men are buffoons who just want to see bloody limbs and exploding cars and women on their knees? OK, I’ll grant her the women on their knees part, but still..I’m supposed to take this woman’s insight seriously?
That was a surprisingly good interview. Ed Driscoll has a knack for the interesting interview, opening up field for Andrew Klavan to talk and expound. Andrew Klavan is interesting, insightful, coherent, world wise and entertaining. Twenty minutes well spent. Or, if you’re like me, 40 minutes, since I listened twice. Thanks!